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•JUL  24  1921 


SOME  ASPECTS  OF   THE    WORK   OF   THE    DEPART- 
MENT OF  STATE 

By  the   honorable   CHARLES  E.    HUGHES 


[Reprinted  prom  the  American  Journal  of  International  Law 
Vol.  XVI,  Number  3,  July,  1922] 


'J-iFo^[s^\h  .,y 


A¥  His 


SOME  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT 

OF  STATE' 

By  the  Honorable  Charles  E.  Hughes 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States 

It  is  my  purpose  to  present  to  you  some  aspects  of  the  work  of  the  De- 
partment of  State.  In  view  of  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  discussions  at 
this  meeting  I  do  not  need  to  emphasize  the  extraordinary  importance  of 
our  international  relations  at  this  time.  But  I  feel  that  such  discussions, 
despite  their  wide  range,  would  be  inadequate  unless  they  also  served  to 
bring  about  a  better  understanding  on  the  part  of  the  business  men  of  the 
country  of  the  essential  instrumentality  through  which  intercourse  with 
foreign  governments  is  conducted. 

It  is  impossible  to  have  a  correct  appreciation  of  the  most  important 
activities  of  the  Department  of  State  without  taking  account  of  its  con- 
stitutional background.  The  President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  has  the  power  to  make  treaties  and  to  appoint  ambassadors  and 
other  public  ministers  and  consuls.  To  the  President  is  confided  the 
authority  to  receive  ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers.  By  virtue  of 
this  constitutional  relation  to  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs,  the  correspond- 
ence and  negotiations  with  foreign  powers  are  exclusively  in  the  hands  of 
the  President.  At  the  outset,  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  first  Secretary  of  State, 
advised  President  Washington:  "The  transaction  of  business  with  foreign 
nations  is  Executive  altogether.  It  belongs  then  to  the  Head  of  that  Depart- 
ment, except  as  to  such  portions  of  it  as  are  especially  submitted  to  the 
Senate."  The  power  of  the  President  to  receive  ambassadors  and  ministers 
vests  in  him  exclusively  the  authority  to  determine  what  governments  are 
entitled  to  recognition,  and  the  accredited  medium  for  friendly  intercourse. 
That  high  prerogative  was  not  for  his  aggrandizement  but  because  the  vital 
interests  of  the  nation  were  believed  to  demand  this  concentration  of  power. 
It  was  not  deemed  advisable  to  entrust  it  to  the  Congress  and  for  its  exercise 
the  President  is  accountable  "only  to  his  country  and  his  own  conscience." 
The  Congress,  of  course,  controls  the  purse,  but  in  the  case  of  the  constitu- 
tional authority  of  the  Executive,  as  in  that  of  the  Supreme  Court  exercising 
the  judicial  power,  the  duty  of  the  Congress  to  furnish  the  money  needed 
for  the  essential  equipment  to  exercise  the  authority  has  always  been 
recognized.    The  Department  of  State  is  the  instrumentality  through  which 

^  Address  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  at  Convention  held 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  on  Thursday  evening,  May  18,  1922,  at  8.30  o'clock. 

365 


675851. 


356  THE   AMERICAN   JOURNAL   OF   INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

the  President  gives  his  instructions  to  public  ministers  and  consuls  and 
conducts  his  negotiations  with  representatives  of  foreign  governments,  and 
thus  stands  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  Executive  in  the  performance  of  his 
constitutional  function. 

In  considering  the  relation  of  our  diplomacy  to  the  business  interests  of 
the  country,  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  the  Department  which 
deals  with  our  foreign  relations  is  the  Department  of  Peace.  The  resources 
of  negotiation,  of  reason  and  persuasion  are  within  its  control.  The  very 
foundation  of  all  business  security,  in  an  important  sense,  is  within  the 
keeping  of  the  Foreign  Offices  of  Governments,  as  to  them — as  the  agencies 
of  peoples — must  be  entrusted  the  practical  processes  by  which  nations  may 
adjust  their  mutual  interests,  settle  their  disputes  and  prevent  the  frightful 
losses  and  dislocations  of  war.  I  have  always  advocated  the  judicial  settle- 
ment of  all  international  disputes  which  can  be  regarded  as  having  a  justici- 
able character,  and  have  favored  the  development  of  institutions  for  that 
purpose.  But  with  due  recognition  of  the  importance  of  this  means  of 
settlement,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  most  serious  international 
controversies,  and  this  is  especially  true  at  this  time,  are  not  of  a  legalistic 
nature  and  must  be  settled,  if  they  are  settled  at  all,  by  negotiations  and 
agreements.  They  lie  outside  the  application  of  defined  juristic  principles 
and  the  more  unstable  we  find  world  conditions  to  be,  the  greater  the  neces- 
sity of  the  efficient  operations  of  diplomacy  and  of  the  adequate  organization 
and  support  of  the  Peace  Department  of  our  Government.  The  alternative 
of  friendly  settlement  is  resort  to  coercion,  and,  if  you  wish  peace,  you  must 
pursue  the  methods  of  friendly  intercourse  between  Governments  and 
recognize  whatever  is  essentially  involved  in  these  methods.  There  is  no 
other  way. 

A  fundamental  question  at  this  time  is  the  preservation  of  the  essential 
bases  of  international  intercourse  through  the  demand  for  the  recognition 
of  valid  titles  acquired  in  accordance  with  existing  law  and  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  sanctity  of  contracts  and  of  adequate  means  of  enforcing  them. 
Intercourse,  from  the  standpoint  of  business,  consists  in  the  making  of) 
contracts  and  the  acquisition  of  property  rights.  Nations  may  adopt  what 
policies  they  please  for  the  future  conduct  of  their  local  affairs,  and  if  these 
policies  are  not  enlightened,  the  result  will  inevitably  be  that  production  will 
languish  and  trade  will  shrivel  up,  and  they  will  look  in  vain  for  security 
and  confidence:  still  they  will  be  within  their  rights  in  determining  their 
future  policy  in  local  matters.  But  if  they  seek  international  intercourse,  • 
they  must  perform  international  obligations.  When  they  have  invited 
intercourse  with  other  nations,  have  established  their  laws  under  which 
contracts  have  been  made  and  property  rights  validly  acquired,  they  put 
themselves  outside  the  pale  of  international  intercourse  if  they  enter  upon 
a  policy  of  confiscation.  International  relations  proceed  upon  the  postu- 
lates of  international  morality,  and  the  most  important  principle  to  be  v,. 


SOME    ASPECTS    OF   THE    WORK    OF   THE    DEPAETMEXT    OF    STATE        357 

maintained  at  this  time  with  respect  to  international  relations  is  that  no 
State  is  entitled  to  a  place  within  the  family  of  nations  if  it  destroys  the 
foundation  of  honorable  intercourse  by  resort  to  confiscation  and  repudiation,  * 
and  fails  to  maintain  an  adequate  system  of  government  through  which 
valid  rights  and  valid  engagements  are  recognized  and  enforced.  This  is  in 
the  obvious  interest  of  business,  and  this  is  merely  a  way  of  saying  that  this  ' 
course  is  vital  to  the  prosperity  of  all  peoples  for  the  activities  of  business  are 
those  of  production  and  exchange  upon  which  the  welfare  of  peoples  inevi- 
tably depend.  If  profits  are  anticipated  through  a  departure  from  this 
clear  path  of  honorable  dealing,  they  will  be  found  to  be  illusory. 

At  this  time  we  also  have  occasion  to  deal  with  the  enlarging  of  the 
opportunities  for  industry  and  commerce  by  the  recognition  and  extension 
of  the  poHcy  of  the  "Open-Door".  At  the  recent  Conference  held  in  Wash- 
ington the  participating  Powers  succeeded  in  taking  what  has  been  the 
subject  of  general  diplomatic  phrases  in  relation  to  China  and  putting  it 
with  more  definite  explication  in  the  precise  form  of  a  treaty  engagement. 
Thus  they  have  agreed  that  they  will  not  seek  nor  support  their  respective 
nationals  in  seeking  (a)  ''any  arrangement  which  might  purport  to  establish 
in  favor  of  their  interests  any  general  superiority  of  rights  with  respect  to 
commercial  or  economic  development  in  any  designated  region  of  China", 
or  (b)  "any  such  monopoly  or  preference  as  would  deprive  the  nationals  of 
any  other  Power  of  the  right  of  undertaking  any  legitimate  trade  or  industry 
in  China,  or  of  participating  with  the  Chinese  Government,  or  with  any 
local  authority,  in  any  category  of  public  enterprise,  or  which  by  reason  of 
its  scope,  duration  or  geographical  extent  is  calculated  to  frustrate  the 
practical  application  of  the  principle  of  equal  opportunity." 

This  Government  has  been  insisting,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  with  a  gratifying 
measure  of  success,  upon  the  application  of  this  principle  to  the  territories 
which  recently  have  become  the  subject  of  the  novel  arrangement  of  man- 
dates, and  we  have  received  important  assurances  with  respect  to  equality 
of  commercial  opportunity  in  these  regions. 

In  giving  appropriate  diplomatic  support  to  American  enterprise,  our 
Government  does  not,  of  course,  attempt  to  secure  contracts  for  its  nationals 
or  to  institute  particular  undertakings.  I  assume  that  no  one  could  wish 
the  Government  to  be  so  involved.  Its  object  is  to  keep  open  the  course  of , 
fair  and  equal  opportunity.  Hence,  it  is  a  vital  principle  that  it  must  act 
with  absolute  impartiality  with  respect  to  American  business  interests 
which  may  happen  to  be  in  competition.  It  does  not  attempt  to  favor  one 
at  the  expense  of  another,  but  to  maintain  such  policies  with  respect  to 
international  intercourse  as  will  give  all  a  fair  chance. 

And,  in  this  connection,  permit  me  to  say  a  word  to  the  effect  that  the 
relations  between  the  Department  of  State  and  business  men  involve  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  reciprocity.     It  is  not  only  important  that  there  should  be  • 
an  alert  and  efficient  organization  of  this  branch  of  the  government,  but  it  is 


/ 


358  THE   AMERICAN   JOURNAL   OF  INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

also  important  that  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  good  faith  and 
cordial  feeling  are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  international  affairs  and  that 
nothing  in  diplomatic  intercourse  can  atone  for  the  conduct  of  disreputable 
♦business  agents  and  speculators  who  do  not  carry  into  their  undertakings 
abroad  those  methods  of  honorable  dealing  which  must  always  be  assumed 
in  giving  diplomatic  support.  This  Government  is  not  engaged  in  endeavor- 
ing to  promote  the  opportunities  of  chicanery,  and  business  interests  in  their 
dealings  abroad  are  under  a  patriotic  obligation  to  maintain  the  prestige  of 
their  country. 

Aside  from  these  observations  as  to  fundamental  principle,  I  could  easily 
enumerate  a  host  of  special  instances  in  which  the  activities  of  the  Depart- 
ment are  now  engaged  of  vast  importance  to  the  business  community.  But 
such  a  narration  would  not  aid  in  the  safeguarding  of  the  particular  business 
interests  concerned  and  at  best  could  serve  to  emphasize  by  particularization 
the  general  observations  I  am  making  as  to  the  importance  of  the  adequate 
organization  of  the  Department. 

The  organization  of  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  implies  the  mechanism 

,  (1)  for  obtaining  complete  and  accurate  information,  and  (2)  for  constant 
and  direct  contact  with  all  those  concerned;  and  the  operation  of  this 
mechanism  must  be  dominated  (3)  by  an  American  policy  conceived  and 
defined  with  an  accurate  appreciation  of  all  American  interests  involved. 

This  manifestly  requires  unification  of  effort.  The  function  of  directing 
intercourse  with  foreign  governments  in  the  nature  of  things  cannot  be 
divided.     There  must  be  unity  in  the  formulation  and  direction  of  policy 

*and  unity  in  its  execution.  Manifestly,  you  cannot  deal  with  different 
governments  through  different  instrumentalities;  and  you  cannot  deal  with 
the  same  government  through  independent  agencies,  or  you  will  work  to 
cross  purposes.  However  important  and  helpful  it  may  be,  and  I  agree 
that  it  is  most  important  and  helpful  to  have  specialized  efforts  to  promote 
trade,  to  secure  technical  assistance,  to  gather  and  disseminate  in  the  most 
expert  manner  all  needed  information,  to  organize  the  facilities  of  commerce 
and  provide  for  the  manifold  exigencies  of  our  merchants — and  I  am  as 
anxious  as  anyone  to  see  this  provision  generously  made — still  it  remains  so 
clearly  true  as  in  my  judgment  to  be  beyond  controversy  that  when  you 
come  to  the  point  of  dealing  with  governments  you  must  have  a  single 
governmental  agency  of  international  intercourse  or  you  will  have  confusion 
and  make  definite  and  consistent  policy  and  effective  governmental  action 
impossible.  It  is  especially  important  to  recognize  this  fact  at  this  time, 
when  our  international  problems  tend  to  become  mainly  economic  problems. 

«  There  is  the  more  imperative  necessity  of  adequately  organizing  international 
intercourse.  The  effective  intertwining  of  political  and  economic  problems 
imposes  a  heavier  strain  upon  the  machinery  and  requires  suitable  readjust- 
ment, but  the  exigency  requiring  a  unified  system  of  contact  with  foreign 
powers  remains  exactly  the  same.     In  truth,  many  of  our  economic  problems 


SOME   ASPECTS   OF  THE   WORK   OF  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   STATE        359 

have  now  the  feature  that  governments,  directly  or  indirectly,  are  themselves 
more  largely  involved  in  economic  projects,  and  economic  problems  must  of 
necessity  to  a  larger  extent  than  before  be  taken  up  with  governments 
through  diplomatic  channels.     Unity  of  control  of  contact  with  foreign  i 
governments  is  absolutely  essential. 

There  are  two  main  divisions  of  the  organization  of  intercourse  with  ^ 
other  Powers:  (1)  the  Field  and  (2)  the  Department.  These  are  interdepend- 
ent agencies.  The  Field  consists  of  Ambassadors,  Ministers,  Consuls  and 
special  commissioners,  with  their  necessary  staffs,  constituting  the  instru- 
mentahties  of  information  and  contact.  There  is  still  a  lingering  notion 
that  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  representatives  of  our  Government  act 
under  instructions  from  the  Department  of  State  and  because  of  the  im- 
proved facilities  of  communication,  these  representatives  continue  what  is 
mainly  a  social  tradition  and  are  of  slight  practical  value.  Some  may  think 
that  communications  cabled  directly  to  foreign  powers  would  be  sufficient. 
It  is  a  very  crude  and  limited  view  which  would  deny  the  importance  of  even 
social  contacts.  But  the  inadequacy  of  mere  written  communications, 
however  important  these  may  be,  and  of  the  necessity  of  direct  personal 
approach  should  be  apparent  to  everyone  whose  horizon  is  broad  enough  to 
enable  him  to  consider  foreign  affairs  to  any  advantage.  The  facilities  of 
communication  increase  the  opportunities  for  business  and  the  multiplicity 
of  business  interests  and  intimacies  of  business  relations  serve  not  to  lessen 
but  greatly  to  increase  the  necessity  for  the  factor  of  personality  in  contacts 
with  foreign  governments. 

The  tendency  is  strikingly  shown  in  the  endeavor  at  the  present  time,  in 
view  of  the  complexities  of  international  relations,  to  increase  the  opportu- 
nity for  personal  contacts  through  the  medium  of  international  conferences. 
That  is  the  whole  significance  of  conferences, — that  diplomatic  notes  will 
not  suffice.  Everyone  familiar  with  foreign  affairs  knows  that  while  the 
statement  of  foreign  policies  in  formal  writings  is  absolutely  necessary,  still 
in  order  to  accomplish  results  in  negotiations,  there  should  be  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable the  personal  contacts  of  diplomatic  representatives.  Every  im- 
portant business  concern  that  can  send  an  agent  personally  to  conduct 
delicate  negotiations  does  so.  Every  responsible  foreign  minister  longs  to 
get  away  from  interminable  note  writing  through  which  controversies  tend 
to  approach  an  impasse.  An  hour  of  direct  intercourse  between  responsible 
Ministers  is  often  worth  months  of  written  communications.  The  interna- 
tional conference  itself  is  largely  successful  in  inverse  proportion  to  its 
numbers  and  to  the  extent  that  it  represents  the  common  purpose  of  a  few 
who  are  interested  in  a  particular  problem  and  sincerely  wish  to  find  an 
appropriate  method  of  solution.  In  the  larger  gatherings  real  accomplish- 
ment is  likely  to  be  hindered  by  the  breaking  up  into  groups  with  rival 
purposes  which  prevent  results.  The  point  is  that  the  present  effort  of  \ 
diplomacy  is  not  to  rely  on  mechanical  facilities  of  communication  but  to  J 


L. 


360  THE    AMERICAN   JOURNAL    OF   INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

get  to  the  maximum  the  advantage  of  personality  in  negotiations.  The 
method  of  conference  is  a  mere  extension  to  a  group  of  that  which  in  a  limited 
way  is  found  every  day  in  the  contacts  of  pubhc  ministers  representing  their 
different  countries. 

In  every  part  of  the  earth  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Officers  of  the 
United  States  are  watching  every  turn  of  events  in  their  relation  to  the 
general  policies  of  this  Government.  They  report  every  source  of  interna- 
tional irritation;  they  note  the  signals  of  economic  and  political  unrest,  of 
international  rivalries,  prejudices,  subversive  tendencies  and  discriminatory- 
policies.  They  aid  the  Government  not  merely  in  settling  disputes  but  in 
removing  or  limiting  the  causes  of  possible  controversy. 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  one  surveying  the  matter  intelligently  could  wish 
to  do  aught  but  increase  the  efficiency  of  this  representation.  We  have 
•  recently  endeavored  to  stop  competition  in  naval  armament  by  agreeing 
upon  ratios  of  capital  ships  in  the  case  of  the  principal  naval  powers.  We 
have  been  solicitous  in  this  country,  while  scrapping  a  large  part  of  our 
capital  ships,  to  maintain  a  reasonable  relation  of  our  naval  power  to  that 
of  other  countries,  but  diplomatic  strength  is  even  more  important  than  naval 
strength,  and  it  is  a  poor  patriot  who  would  scrap  both  his  ships  and  his 
diplomats  at  the  same  time.  If  you  are  to  get  along  without  the  one  you 
must  have  the  other.  Every  American  should  feel  ashamed  that  any 
country  in  the  world  should  have  a  better  diplomatic  organization  than  the 
United  States.  This  is  not  a  matter  simply  of  national  pride;  it  is  a  matter 
of  national  security. 

I  shall  therefore  make  no  apologies  for  asking  not  only  your  support  but 
your  active  and  urgent  demand  in  the  interest  of  American  business  for  the 
I     maintenance  and  development  of  the  most  efficient  organization  of  our 
' /diplomatic  agencies.     The  truth  is  that  our  Foreign  Service  is  undermanned 
\  and  underpaid.     Of  course,  in  the  Department  of  State,  as  in  other  De- 
partments, we  are  most  deeply  interested  in  economy  and  reduction  of  un- 
necessary expense.     At  this  time  with  the  vast  burdens  resting  upon  our 
people  as  a  result  of  the  war,  all  avoidable  outlays  should  be  rigorouslj'  cut 
down,  and  the  Department  of  State  has  done  its  full  share.     Let  me  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  expenses  of  the  entire  service  of  the  Depart- 
ment, including  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Services  and  that  of  the 
Department  in  Washington,  amount  to  less  than  $11,000,000.     Indeed, 
under  the  present  schedule  of  passport  fees,  which  I  shall  be  glad  to  see 
revised  and  reduced,  for  the  last  fiscal  year  the  receipts  of  the  Department 
exceeded  the  total  expenditures  of  all  services  by  over  $1,270,000.     In  other 
words,  it  was  a  money-making  institution.     I  am  not,  therefore,  asking  out- 
lays which  threaten  the  tax-payer  with  any  serious  increase  of  his  heavy  bur- 
den.    A  relatively  small  amount  would  be  sufficient  to  give  the  equipment 
•  that  is  needed  to  provide  the  essential  basis  of  a  career  and  thus  to  keep 
trained  men  in  the  service  of  the  Government. 


SOME    ASPECTS    OF   THE    WORK    OF   THE    DEPARTMENT    OF   STATE        361 

The  necessity  for  a  trained  staff  is  obvious.    The  notion  that  a  wide-awake,    *      w 
average  American  can  do  anything  is  flattering  to  the  American  pride,  but 
costs  the  Government  dearly.     In  every  hne  of  effort — professional,  com- 
mercial or  industrial — it  is  thoroughly  understood  that  you  cannot  obtain 
the  necessary  technical  equipment  through  mere  general  experience  or  by 
reading  instructions.     There  are  thousands  of  items  of  necessary  informa- 
tion which  are  a  part  of  the  common  knowledge  of  men  whose  lives  are 
entirely  devoted  to  a  class  of  work  which  cannot  be  obtained  by  anyone 
who  is  suddenly  introduced  from  the  outside.     I  have  no  regard  for  artificial 
technicalities  and  I  fully  understand  the  dangers  of  departmental  routine, 
but  it  is  a  very  shortsighted  and  foolish  view  which  would  confuse  routine 
and  expert  knowledge.     The  patent  fact  is  that  you  cannot  have  an  efficient    / 
Foreign  Service  without  having  trained  men  and  you  cannot  secure  trained 
men  without  an  adequate  system  for  their  selection  and  maintenance;  and  * 
you  cannot  keep  men  who  have  been  properly  selected  and  trained  and  are    • 
invaluable  to  their  country  unless  you  offer  reasonable  opportunities  for 
promotion. 

(  I  grant  the  importance  of  appointing  men  from  outside  the  service  to 
important  diplomatic  posts.  It  is  most  advisable  that  the  country  should 
have  the  opportunity  to  draw  upon  its  reserves  of  wide  experience,  sagacity, 
and  ability;  that  it  should  secure  the  benefit  of  the  mature  judgment  of 
those  who  represent  the  fruition  of  American  opportunity,  culture  and  dis- 
cipline, and  thus  invigorate  the  processes  of  diplomacy.)  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  these  men,  despite  their  training  and  ability,  would  be 
helpless  if  they  did  not  have  the  backing  of  trained  staffs.  If  you  are  to 
secure  the  full  benefit  of  the  most  distinguished  service  at  the  top  you  must 
still  have  your  organized  service  in  all  the  other  grades.  And,  as  I  have^ 
said,  while  you  cannot  sacrifice  the  great  advantage  of  appointments  from 
the  outside  to  the  chief  positions,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  there  should 
be  a  suflScient  frequency  of  promotions  from  the  Service  itself  to  the  chief 
positions,  that  is,  of  heads  of  missions,  so  as  to  make  possible  a  career 
warranting  its  pursuit  by  a  fair  proportion  of  the  very  best  of  our  young  men. 

The  Consular  Service  through  appropriate  legislation  was  long  ago  (in 
1906)  placed  upon  a  merit  basis,  and  also  by  recent  enactment,  in  1915, 
supplementing  an  Executive  Order  of  1909,  the  secretarial  portion  of  the 
Diplomatic  Service  has  been  placed  upon  a  non-political  basis  by  provision 
for  appointment  after  competitive  examination  and  by  promotion  for  rea- 
sons of  merit  and  efficiency  up  to  Class  I.  The  examinations  are  conducted 
so  as  to  afford  satisfactory  tests,  both  of  attainment  and  of  adaptability  to 
the  requirements  of  the  service.  The  examinations  are  conducted  in  the 
Department  by  men  of  great  experience  who  know  precisely  the  needs  which 
must  be  met  and  the  sort  of  equipment  desired. 

But  while  in  recent  years  there  has  been  great  improvement  by  reason  of 
this  method  of  selection,  we  have  serious  difficulties  to  meet.     These  are: 


/" 


^ 


362  THE   AMERICAN   JOURNAL   OF   INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

^  The  Diplomatic  Service  is  greatly  underpaid.  A  man  of  moderate  means, 
whatever  his  ability,  cannot  accept  the  more  important  posts  of  Ambassador 
or  Minister.  These  high  offices  are  reserved  to  men  of  wealth,  when  in  the 
interest  of  the  country  they  should  be  within  the  reach  of  men  of  ability, 
whatever  their  private  fortune.  Certainly  they  should  be  within  the  reach 
of  men  of  talent  who  have  ignored  the  opportunities  to  amass  wealth  by 
reason  of  their  long  employment  in  the  service  of  their  country. 

The  salaries  are  so  low  in  the  classified  Diplomatic  Service  that  the 
choice  of  candidates  is  largely  restricted  to  young  men  of  wealthy  families 
who  are  able  and  willing  to  a  considerable  extent  to  pay  their  own  way.  It 
is  a  most  serious  thing  to  be  compelled  to  say  that  a  young  man  without 
means,  who  desires  to  marry  and  bring  up  a  family  after  the  American  tradi- 
tion, cannot  be  encouraged  to  enter  upon  one  of  the  most  important  careers 
that  the  country  has  to  offer.  I  say  bluntly  that  no  American  can  face  the 
facts  without  a  sense  of  humiliation,  and  he  is  compelled  to  qualify  his 
boasting  of  our  intelligence  and  civilization  so  long  as  this  condition  con- 
tinues. 

In  the  present  situation  there  is  a  double  harm,  first  in  keeping  out  men 
who  would  invigorate  the  Service,  and  on  the  other  hand,  in  creating  the 
impression  that  it  is  a  rich  man's  club.  Let  me,  however,  warn  you  against 
an  erroneous  impression.  It  does  not  follow  because  a  man  has  the  advan- 
tage of  the  background  of  success  and  wealth  in  his  family,  generally  won  in 
a  hard,  competitive  struggle,  that  he  is  not  entirely  worthy  of  appointment 
and  promotion.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  some  of  the  finest  young  men  of 
the  country  in  our  service,  and  we  ought  to  be  grateful  that  under  the 
existing  conditions  they  are  able  and  content  to  turn  aside  from  financial 
opportunities  to  follow  an  intellectual  bent  and  seek  a  career  of  honorable 
service  to  the  nation.  I  do  not  depreciate  those  who  are  in  the  Service,  but 
I  do  decry  the  method  which  limits  the  selection  and  discriminates  against 
the  poor  man  of  equal  ability.  We  talk  a  great  deal  of  love  of  our  country, 
and  I  should  like  to  see  a  better  appreciation  of  what  its  interests  demand. 

We  have  the  same  difficulty  in  the  Consular  Service  because  of  the  present 
salary  scale.  It  is  difficult  to  retain  its  best  men  because  of  tempting  offers 
constantly  made  to  them  by  the  business  world. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  have  always  had  in  this  country  a  very 
large  proportion  of  our  young  men  of  the  highest  ability  who  are  strongly 
influenced  by  other  ideals  than  those  of  pecuniary  gain.  It  is  because  of 
this  fact  that  in  the  past  generations,  while  America  was  advancing  by  leaps 
and  bounds,  and  vast  fortunes  were  being  accumulated,  the  church  and 
the  teaching  profession  were  enriched  by  our  best  blood.  But  there  is  a 
limit  to  the  sacrifice  that  can  be  asked.  There  is  a  difference  between 
plain  living  and  actual  poverty  and  distress.  Further,  the  prospect  that 
invites  the  young  man  of  intellectual  ambition  is  one  of  career,  of  recognition, 
of  distinction;  hence,  it  is  of  vital  importance  in  organizing  our  Diplomatic 


SOME   ASPECTS   OF  THE   WORK   OF   THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   STATE        363 

and  Consular  Services  that  we  should  provide  sufficient  for  a  decent  living, 
and  hold  out  the  hope  that  conspicuous  abihty  and  fidelity  will  be  appro- 
priately recognized. 

There  is  also  the  need  of  a  greater  flexibihty.  There  has  long  been  too 
great  a  distinction  between  the  political  interests  of  the  Diplomatic  Service 
and  the  commercial  interests  of  the  Consular  Service.  Both  are  engaged  in 
political  work  and  both  are  engaged  in  commercial  work.  You  cannot  at 
this  time  take  economics  out  of  diplomacy.  If  you  would  protect  our  in- 
terests on  the  one  side  you  must  support  them  on  the  other,  and  I  believe 
that  the  two  branches  of  the  Service,  now  called  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular, 
should  be  drawn  together  and  treated  as  an  interchangeable  unit.  This 
would  permit  men  to  be  assigned  from  one  Service  to  the  other  and  thus 
give  a  greater  range  of  opportunity  for  putting  men  in  the  places  where  they 
belong  as  their  aptitudes  and  special  talents  are  revealed. 

In  all  these  matters  we  must  be  realists  and  not  permit  our  mental  proc- 
esses to  be  stopped  by  archaic  differentiations.  Nearly  all  nations  have 
found  it  necessary  to  make  a  considerable  reorganization  in  order  better  to 
equip  their  Foreign  Service,  and  this  country  should  not  lag  behind. 

What  I  have  said  as  to  the  service  abroad  applies  also  to  the  Department. 
The  Department  is  undermanned.  The  work  places  too  great  pressure  on 
many  of  the  officials  and  employees  who  are  required  to  sacrifice  construc- 
tive hours  to  routine.  There  is  need  of  more  and  better  paid  officials  to 
handle  important  matters.  The  work  of  the  Department  in  Washington  is 
interlaced  with  that  of  the  Field  and  the  aim  is  constantly  to  interchange  the 
benefits  of  the  experiences  of  each.  Thus  men  should  be  brought  in  from 
the  Field  to  the  Department  so  that  the  Department  may  be  enriched  by 
contact  with  those  who  have  had  the  benefit  of  experience  abroad,  and  at  the 
same  time  men  should  be  sent  from  the  Department  to  the  Field  so  that 
there  may  be  a  better  understanding  and  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
Department's  policies.  Happily  this  reciprocal  influence  is  being  maintained 
and  the  spirit  of  both  Field  and  Department  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 

Then  there  should  be  a  coordination  of  effort  among  the  different  de- 
partments of  government.  Sometimes  it  might  be  supposed  that  the 
different  departments  of  government  were  so  many  different  governments, 
such  has  been  at  times  the  nature  of  the  intercourse  between  them.  While 
we  are  intent  upon  perfecting  any  particular  agency  of  government,  we  can 
never  afford  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  single  government  whose 
varied  instrumentalities  we  are  considering  and  which  must  act  as  a  single 
government  with  a  unified  purpose  and  method. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  we  are  achieving  at  this  time  a  very  gratifying 
measure  of  cooperation  among  the  Departments ;  in  particular  the  relations 
between  the  Department  of  State  and  the  Department  of  Commerce  are 
most  cordial  and  mutually  helpful.  We  are  working  with  each  other  and 
endeavoring  each  to  aid  the  other  in  its  recognized  field  of  effort.     It  is  my 


364  THE    AMERICAN   JOURNAL   OF   INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

most  earnest  desire  that  all  practicable  measures  shall  be  taken  to  promote 
American  commerce  and  disseminate  through  all  appropriate  channels  the 
essential  information  which  the  American  merchant  needs. 

The  Department  of  State  is  carrying  the  flag  of  the  twentieth  century. 
It  aims  to  be  responsive  in  its  own  essential  sphere  to  what  it  recognizes  as 
the  imperative  demands  of  American  business.  It  aims  at  the  coordination 
of  the  work  of  all  departments  bearing  upon  the  same  great  object  of  Ameri- 
can prosperity.  It  intends  in  its  contacts  with  foreign  governments  to 
maintain  the  American  tradition  of  candor  and  good  faith,  and  at  this  diffi- 
cult time  it  is  earnestly  desirous  of  aiding  in  the  reestablishment  of  stable 
conditions  and  thus  of  contributing  to  the  welfare  of  other  peoples  upon  which 
our  own  prosperity  must  ultimately  depend. 


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